Clamping device for weft replenishing looms



0 June 11, 1935. R. G. TURNER CLAMPING DEVICE FOR WEFT REPLENISHINGLOOMS Filed Marofi 22, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 e Wm w m m e 3 0 v u R 0 aJune 11, 1935. R E 2,004,302

CLAMPING DEVICE FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Filed March 22. 1952 2Sheets-Sheet 2 6m: enter- Richard G. Turner A mvw j Qttornegs PatentedJune 11, 1935 :sms;

P TEN j .oLAMrmGnEvIoE FOR WEFT REPLENISH- A t l INGLOOMSYI.RichardGreenleaf Turner, .Worcester, Mass, assignonto CromptonCSzKnowles Loom "Works Worcester; Mass a corporation of; Mass'ah si v 1 aneal-[m naret 22.1932, sen ing. 600,4 8

i u g 530mm. (cries-256) invention relates to looms'in which the supplyofwft or filling is automatically replenished, .andrelates moreparticularly to that type i of weft replenishing loom in whichanexhausted or substantially. exhaustedshuttle is'automatically ejectedand a; fresh shuttle substituted therefor. Such looms are largelygusedfor weaving silk and ,rayonand other fine fabrics in which the slightestvariationin weft tension is notice-s.

able and objectionable. i ,Incertain looms of this type, the'shuttle ischanged at back center whilethe layis at rest with the. shed'fully openand while thelastlinserted or out-going weft thread restsloosely ion thelower warp shed.v Itis; found that this out going weft thread sometimesbecomes wrapped about or otherwise .involved with the out-going shuttle.in' such a way that the weft: thread is substantially tensioned by the.falling shuttle.

.When the shed closes upon a weft thread which has thus :been'additionally tensioned, ahdifierence inthe weave isproduced which isdistinctly visible in the sheen of a silk or'rayo'n fabric and which isconsidered a substantial defect therein,

..-It istheobjectofmy present invention to 7 provide adevice which willclamp the out-going l is a plan vie weft thread adjacent the selvage asasubstantiallygxhausted. shuttle; is being; ejectedya nd which will thusmaintainnormal tension in that p iqn o -going weft which rests in the.warp} shed.' i

yinventionfurther relates to arrangements and combinationslof partswhich will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. j Y I u A preferred form'of thein'vention is shownin the drawings, in which of portions'of a shuttlechanging'looniembodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofthe parts shown in Fi .1; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic planview illustratingthe ejection of the shuttle; '1 fl u Fig; 4: isa. sectional endelevation of parts of the loom, takensubstantially along the line 4 -4inFig. 1,

Fig. 5 is asectional end elevation, takenalong;

the line 5 5 in Fig.1. I

Referring to the drawings; I have shown portions of a weft replenishingloom of the general type shown in the prior'patent to Jackson'No.1,133,802; issued March 30, 1915. In this type of loom,- the lay I0 isprovided with a fixed back box plate u and with-a fr ont boxplate l2mount ed on arms I3 pivoted on a rod |4 and connected line. positionindicated in Fig. 4 and the shuttle.

surface on the bracket 35 and is held in firm fric by a 11m :5 (Fi .4)toIatuatiiigmechanlsrii (not shown) bywhich thefront box plate]! may be.

raised when a shuttle change indicated.

Anpusher or ejector1l is mounted forward, through an opening in the backboxplatell I and to push the shuttle S forwardly off of thelay while thefrontbox plate IZfis in raised position. The ejector, is pivoted onacross rod l8, supported in fixed arms 20 extending forwardly from thebrackets 12 L which; support 'the-frodl .l 4 on which the'armsgl? arepivoted. i f A contact screw' 22 isadjustable in, a forward--.

. ly extending portion' 23' of the ejector l1 and isengagedby an. uppersurface ofthe frontbox plate [2 as, the box plate is raised to permit achange of. shuttles.

the .ejector I1 is. swung forward 'to thedotted .flWhen the front-boxplate l2 isthus raisedf y her or plunger 30 movable vertically in afixed guideway or bearing 3! (Figs. 2 and 5) and having a pin and slotconnection at its upper endfito a. lever 33 pivoted at 34gto a bracket35- mounted .in fixedposition on the-top of the back box plate H. Africtionsurface. 36 (Fig. 1), on the hub-of the lever 33 j'engagesacorresponding ffriction tional tcontact therewith by a compressionspring on the front end of. the pivotstud The upper end of the lever 38extends over one 'of theiarms l3ppreviously described which raise andlower the frontbox plate [2. A spring plate Mlis mounted under the upperend38 of the lever 33 and-provides a slightly resilient engagementwiththe arm l3. A pad 42 of'leather or other suitable cushion materialispreferably secured to the under face of; the clamping member30f. V

: A cam member. (Fig. 4) is mounted in fixed position at therear of.theishuttle storage .Inaga-- zine M and engages the upper end 38 of themember 33 as the lay It moves forward after the exhausted shuttle S hasbeen ejected.

l he operation of the clamping device is as follows:

After an indication of substantial weft exhaustion, the arms 13 andfront "box plate l2 are moved upward by the actuating link I35 andduring the middle portion of the upward movement of the front box platei2 the contact screw 22 is engaged and the ejector llis movedforward.

During this forward 'movementof the ejector l7, one of the arms 13engages the spring plate 4 and depresses the clamping memberBD on theweft thread W, which thread lies in the open warp shed and has beenmoved forward under the clamping member 36 by'the action of the ejectorl'l. V a r V The weft thread W will thus be clamped and firmly held bythe clamping member 353, as'indicated in Fig. 5,.and the parts will beheld frictionally in this position until the lay it approaches itsextreme forward position. The upper end 38 of the lever 33 will thenengage the fixed cam member 44 (-Fig. 4;) and will be moved thereby tothe initial inoperative position indicated in Fig. 2. p T

, It will thus be evident that a firm clamping pressure is applied tothe weftthread W between the sel'vage of the cloth and the exhaustedshuttle S, so that any increase in weft tension caused by 'entanglingthe weft with the falling" shuttle cannot be communicated to thatportionof the weft which extends-through the shed and rests by slightdifferences in weft tension are avoided.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, 1do-notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise thanas set forth'in the claims, but what I claim is:-

1. In a loom, shuttle-changing mechanism,

I means to clamp the out-going weft thread at a point between theout-going shuttle and the adjacent cloth selvage during ejection of saidshuttle, and actuating devices for said clamping means, operable intimed relation to the movement of the shuttle-changing mechanism.

2. In a fly shuttle loom, shuttle-changing mechanism, operatingsubstantially at back center and means to clamp the out-going weftthread to the lay during shuttle ejection.

3. In a fly shuttle loom, shuttle-changing mechanism, and means to clampthe out-going weft thread to the lay during shuttle ejection and at apoint in front of the path of the shuttle and in front of the normalposition of the weft thread. I

4. In a fly shuttle loom, shuttle-changing mechanism, and means to clampthe out-going weft thread to the lay during shuttle ejection, saidclamping means becoming operative when the shuttle has been given apartial forward ejecting movement. a

5. In a loom, shuttle-changing mechanism, and means to clamp theout-going weft thread between the out-going shuttle .and the adjacentcloth selvage duringejection of said shuttle, said clamping means beingmoved directly by said shuttle-changing mechanism after a partialoperative movement of said mechanism.

6. In a loom, shuttle-changing mechanism, and means to clamp theout-going weft thread between the out-goi g shuttle and the adjacentcloth selvage during. ejection of said shuttle, said clamping meansincluding a yielding element engageable by said shuttle-changingmechanism.

' 7. In a loom, shuttle-changing mechanism, a normally inoperativeweft-clamping device movable .by said mechanism to clamping position onthe initiation of shuttle replacement, and friction means to hold saiddevice in clamping position after movement by said shuttle-changingmechanism.

8. In a loom, shuttle-changing mechanism, a normally inoperativeweft-clamping device movable by said mechanism to clamping position on"the initiation of shuttle replacement, friction means to hold saiddevice in'clamping position after movement by said shuttle-changingmechanism, and means to restore'said clamping de vice tonormally'inoperative position. r

9. In a loom, shuttle-changing mechanism, a normally inoperativeweft-clamping device movable by said mechanism to clamping position onthe initiation of shuttle replacement, friction means to hold saiddevice in clamping position after movement by saidshuttle-changingmechanism, and positive cam means effective to returnsaid clamping device to normal inoperative position as the layapproaches front center.

10. In a fly shuttle loom, shuttle changing mechanism operating whilethe lay-is at rest, and means to clamp the last inserted weft thread tothe lay, said clamping means being rendered operative after the layis'brought to rest.

tive when actuated to maintain normal tension in that portion'of thelast-inserted pick of weft which is in the open warp shed during suchweft replenishment. J I

12. In a fly shuttle loom having a plurality of warp threads forming anopen shed, a single shuttle box at the weft replenishing end of the lay,means to replenish the weft supply with the lay substantially at backcenter and after the shuttle is boxed at the weft replenishing end andwhile the warp shed is open, and a clamping device actuated by saidreplenishing means and effective when actuated to prevent an'increase intension in that portion of the last-in serted weft thread which is inthe open warp shed during weft replenishment.

13. In a loom, shuttle changing mechanism operating to eject a shuttlesubstantially at back center and while the warp shed is open, and meansto clamp the out-going weft thread on the layadjacent the shuttle, boxand at a point between the out-going shuttle and the adjacent clothselvage during ejection of said shuttle from the lay.

14. In a loom, shuttle changing mechanism operating to eject a'shuttlesubstantially at back center and whilethe warp shed isropen, and meanson the lay effective to prevent the ejected shuttlefrom altering thetension on that part 5 mechanism operating to eject a. shutt1e"wh11e thewarp shed is open, and means on the lay teri'ng the tension on that partof the last-inserted weft thread which 'is in the open warp, I shedduring ejection of said shuttle from the a lay. t

RICHARD GREENLEAF TURNER.

effective to prevent the ejected shuttle from al-

